Warning: this is not your typical Planet m album. For those expecting ever-changing glitch beats and deftly woven electronica, for once m does not deliver. This, however, is no bad thing. Where the majority of m artists (here I’m thinking of Venetian Snares, m-ziq, Jega) opt for instrumental, engaging digital blips and squarks (or, in the case of Frog Pocket and edIT, digital blips and squarks nestling cosily into a backdrop of acoustic guitars and more

Although I am typically drawn to music much more organic than this largely keyboard and computer-programmed affair, pieces in the key of such a profound melancholy as this sure do amplify the meanderings of my own soul. Swane, obviously on intimate terms with the strange bedfellows of beauty and sadness, mixes instrumentals with singing on this solitary night companion of a record. When he does sing, especially on the mesmerizing "Dark Net," he is more

It appears that prodigious one-man indie acts are the new thing these days – we have the tongue-in-cheek theatrics of Patrick Wolf, the primal cries of Panda Bear, and now the sweeping ballads of Julian Fane. The 21 year-old Canadian has crafted a strong debut with Special Forces, primarily riding strains of Thom Yorke-esque vocals and highly cinematic arrangements. The whole record, as its wintry cover image suggests, exists under a veil of frost; more

The fact Sigur Ros are re-issuing ‘Von’ later this month - a collection of early recordings which dates back to 1999, shows how ‘cutting edge’ Julian Fane’s take on acid-fried guitar music fails to be. This isn’t to say ‘Special Forces’ lacks the pyschedelic swash of his influences, only that Fane’s chosen path has clearly been done before.

However, with songs so dark and beautifully arranged that take elements of both more